"Being out of breath, high blood pressure, stressed out, being tired constantly... it wasn't something that I was liking."

Last year he looked into having surgery but put it aside after thinking it was too radical.

Instead he tried losing weight the conventional way by dieting.

"But because of the lifestyle that I led, because of the job, it's very difficult to do that. The ability to have prepared meals that you are going to sit down to is fleeting because a lot of the times you are on the road," he said.

"There are only so many truck stop dynamite meals you can eat before it becomes a problem."

Federal Member for Dawson George Christensen with some SES workers in the Whitsundays after Cyclone Debbie.

Mr Christensen took to Facebook on Tuesday night to explain his decision.

"I decided for my own health and to better serve my electorate (and not cause a by-election) to undergo a sleeve gastrectomy," he wrote.

Prior to the surgery, Mr Christensen weighed 175.9 kilograms and last night he said he had lost around six to 10 kilograms since leaving hospital.

"Some 85% of my stomach was removed and now I can only eat small portions not exceeding about five semi-heaped tablespoons of food at any given time."